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SpaceX investigation

SpaceX has launched an inquiry into how its Falcon 9 rocket blew up during a routine test a month ago. According to the Washington Post, this means SpaceX has not ruled out the possibility of sabotage, although that remains unlikely. Congressman Mike Coffman has urged government agencies to take over the case, to protect future NASA crews slated to fly with SpaceX to the ISS.

The ugly truth

Unattractive friends may make you look more fanciable, tests with volunteers suggest. They had to rate pictures of different faces for attractiveness, viewing them singly at first, then again with images of less attractive people alongside. The original faces scored more highly the second time around (Psychological Science, doi.org/brbn).

Bees on their knees

Bees have appeared on the US endangered-species list for the first time. All native to Hawaii, the seven species of yellow-faced bees are threatened by non-native animals and by development. The bees pollinate some of Hawaii’s indigenous plant species, many of which are themselves threatened.

Poles’ pro-choice strike

Thousands of women in Poland went on strike on Monday to protest a plan to ban abortions. The proposal, from an anti-abortion grassroots campaign, is being examined by a parliamentary commission and would make all abortions illegal, even in cases of rape or when the woman’s life is at risk.

A titan’s footprints

One of the largest ever dinosaur footprints has been unearthed in the Gobi desert. The well-preserved fossil is 106 centimetres long and 77 centimetres wide, and is thought to have been made by a titanosaur – a long-necked herbivore that may have been 20 metres tall.